By Harold Reutter
harold.reutter@theindependent.com

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Independent/Scott Kingsley Charles Fort, UNK professor and Distinguished Reynolds Chair of Poetry, speaks about his 15 poems that accompany paintings by Grand Island native Grant Reynard. The exhibit, "Afro Psalms," is on display at the Grand Island Public Library. Independent/Scott Kingsley Charles Fort, UNK professor and Distinguished Reynolds Chair of Poetry, reads a family poem during an appearance at the Grand Island Public Library. Fort created a project in 2000 to pair the paintings by Grant Reynard with his poetry. The exhibit is called "Afro Psalms." Click Thumbnails to View

Charles Fort, a University of Nebraska at Kearney professor and Distinguished Reynolds Chair of Poetry, gave that insight Wednesday afternoon as he read works of his poetry at the Grand Island Public Library.

The art exhibit, "Afro Psalms," is a collaboration between the paintings and ink drawings of Grand Island native Grant Reynard and Fort's poetry.

Fort discovered Reynard's works in the morgue of the Museum of Nebraska Art. He told his audience of students, teachers and adults that he did not care for all of Reynard's works.

He felt some were a stereotypical depiction of how African-Americans look. But Fort also discovered that he liked many of Reynard's works, and that inspired him to create a sonnet redoubl.

That is 15 sonnets for 15 works of art by Reynard, covering a theme of African American life, including both the struggles and triumphs of African Americans in this country.

The importance of "seeing with the heart" is evident as Reynard's and Fort's hearts each saw different things in his art work, at least when it came to the titles.

For example, "Thomasville, Georgia" is a specific scene for Reynard, while Fort's accompanying sonnet was named "Afro Psalms."

An untitled work by Reynard became "Young Woman" in Fort's heart, while another Reynard piece, Untitled (workers in a doll factory), became "Black Dolls, White Dolls" in Fort's heart.

He noted the title is in part a reference of the role white and black dolls played in the Brown vs. Board of Education civil rights case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the doctrine of "separate but equal," long used to justify racial segregation, was a fallacy.

With "Afro Psalms" already on display in the library, Fort used his appearance to read some of his other works of poetry. His poems talked about his children, his father and other members of his family.

Fort talked about the attributes of each family that inspired him to write the poetry.

And again, the heart is just as important as the eyes and ears in making observations about family members.

Fort read two poems about his father, each accurate, but presenting perhaps a different side of the same man.

His last poetry reading was a "jazz poem" recited at rapid clip, with seemingly no punctuation. Perhaps his jazz had some traditional swing to it, but the fast pace could well have made people think of be bop.

PoreB 3/12/08